Chinasage Diary

Your daily snippet of information about China. Our diary has a daily fact, proverb and a reminder of upcoming festivals and holidays in China.
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Today Thu 24th May

Roman ban

The popularity of Chinese silk in Rome became such a drain on Roman Imperial finances that Emperor Tiberius ➚ issued an edict to ban men wearing silk. In one year over 22,000 pounds of gold was spent on its import. Read More

Festivals

The Romans and China

Trading contacts between Han China and the Roman world were extensive. At this time much of the trade took the overland Silk Route through Central Asia. In the Han dynasty the Romans were known as the Great Qin (Da Qin 大秦 named after the western Qin people who had unified China in the Qin dynasty. Silk was one of the main exports from China. Read More

Proverb

贼喊捉贼

Zéi hǎn zhuō zéi [zei han zhuo zei]

thief shout 'stop thief'

A thief cries 'Stop thief!'

Diverting attention to cover misdoing

Crying 'wolf'

Tue 22nd May

Good fortune

One of the most common Chinese characters you will see in China and on Chinese gifts is the one for good fortune This is 褔 pronounced fú in Mandarin. Symbolizing good fortune also are images of the bat because in mandarin 'bat' sounds exactly the same fú but written as 蝠. Read More

Proverb

Southern oasis

When northern China was overrun by Khitans and then Mongols 800 years ago the Imperial Song family moved to Hangzhou. It proved to be a peaceful and prosperous time for 150 years. Some scenes of Hangzhou are to be found in the long corridors of the Summer Palace, Beijing. Read More

On this day

Proverb

Hutongs

Beijing and other old cities have a few areas remaining of traditional courtyard houses. It is the narrow lanes between the buildings that are called 'hutongs'. Although towns were laid out to a formal geometric plan the districts were developed informally and as individual families prospered or declined their houses extended or contracted. Over the centuries the ad hoc development led to many narrow and winding hutongs. Read More

Proverb

The lover's eye sees the legendary beauty of Xi Shi in his plain mistress

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Love is blind

Sat 19th May

Yu the Great

A legendary figure of early Chinese history, Da Yu 大禹 is credited with founding the Xia dynasty in 2070BCE. He is mainly associated with the construction of early flood defenses along the Yellow River but there are no reliable historical documents for so early a date. Read More

Proverb

兔死狐悲

Tù sǐ hú bēi [tu si hu bei]

hare die fox sorrow

A fox mourns the death of a rabbit

Feigning concern to conceal true feeling

To weep crocodile tears

Fri 18th May

Wang Xizhi

The master calligrapher Wang Xizhi 303 - 361 is considered the “Sage of calligraphy”. The art of writing Chinese characters continues to be a well respected tradition. Fine examples of writing by famous calligraphers can achieve very high prices. Read More